joshuago’s Bookmarks

The classpath is the connection between the Java runtime and the filesystem. It defines where the interpreter looks for .class files to load. The basic idea is that the filesystem hierarchy mirrors the Java package hierarchy, and the classpath specifies which directories in the filesystem serve as roots for the Java package hierarchy.

Researchers have shown it takes about ten years to develop expertise in any of a wide variety of areas, including chess playing, music composition, telegraph operation, painting, piano playing, swimming, tennis, and research in neuropsychology and topology. The key is deliberative practice: not just doing it again and again, but challenging yourself with a task that is just beyond your current ability, trying it, analyzing your performance while and after doing it, and correcting any mistakes. Then repeat. And repeat again.

The real trouble with using a lot of mediocre programmers instead of a couple of good ones is that no matter how long they work, they never produce something as good as what the great programmers can produce.

Interrupting programmers and forcing them to context switch is harmful, but the obvious should not be overlooked. Sometimes business calls for a sacrifice, or choosing the lesser evil.

Imagine a library containing 25 billion documents, but with no centralized organization and no librarians. In addition, anyone may add a document at any time without telling anyone. You may feel sure that one of the documents contained in the collection has a piece of information that is vitally important to you. You'd like to find it in a matter of seconds. How would you go about doing it?

A rich academic resource for students of Asian history.

An early and insightful description of social networking's benefits and the problems that it had the potential to solve. Much of it has been realized in the current craze for social networking, but the question remains whether real community is being built.

Your quest for knowledge doesn't have to be as Earth-changing as Einstein's, but it can be an important part of your life, leading to a new job, better pay, a new hobby, or simply knowledge for knowledge's sake — whatever is important to you as an end goal.